Judgment Day
by SamFanFirst
Summary: Emma doesn't have time for a lecture when she's scrambling to save Henry's life. Things in Storybrooke have changed indeed.


**Thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, or subscribed to me/my other stories; the support really means everything to an author. You're all utterly spectacular in my eyes!**

**I don't own Once Upon a Time. If I did, I wouldn't be so nervous about the season finale. Enjoy!**

Emma looked up to find the sun slowly creeping through the blinds of the hospital room's window. Her head had been buried in Henry's book for the last hour; only looking up to check the monitor that recorded her son's faint little heart beat.

The night had been full of sheer, unadulterated hell. Between losing it on Regina and watching the doctors and nurses pound on her little boy's chest, Emma found thoughts of the curse seeping into her brain. Snow White, evil queen, apples…If an evil queen's curse did this to Henry, then she'd undo it. She'd do anything to make herself the savior that her son insisted she was; even if it meant believing in fairytales and magic.

Wanting to believe and actually _believing _were two different things. The "heroine" had _wanted _to believe every time she looked into the kid's sparkling eyes that, in so many ways, resembled her own. Now she found herself _actually _beginning to believe what the kid had been telling her all along. Too bad it took Henry having to sacrifice himself for his mother to finally, truly open her eyes.

_And here comes the regret_. Again. For the hundredth time since Henry fell to the floor just hours before. She pushed herself out of the chair, went to set the book beside the kid's bed, and spared a tearful glance back at her son before leaving him under the watchful eye of Mother Superior.

If Emma was going to be the savior; especially to her son, she couldn't continue to sit there and wallow in regret. _"Open your eyes, Emma! Everyone is relying on you. You're our only chance!"_ August! She had to make her way to Granny's Bed and Breakfast to see the only other person who ever tried to convince her that the curse existed.

**OUaT OUaT OUaT OUaT OUaT**

Emma made her way out of the hospital and tore down the main street. She was a mother on a mission, so the usual pleasantries would have to wait. But of course, just one block away from the B&B, the heroine came across two of the last people she wanted to see.

"If you came to say goodbye, don't bother. It's too late for that now," Mary Margaret stood beside David with a hard look on her face, "And if you're looking for your suitcase, it's on my floor. And your car is that way."

The brunette pointed in the direction that Emma had just come from. She looked unapologetic while David just looked dumbfounded.

"You know what? I don't have time for this." With her kid in the hospital, easing her roommate's anger wasn't high on her priority list.

The blonde tried to continue forward, but Mary Margaret had other ideas.

"Why the rush? You couldn't take off with Henry during the night, so now you're going to try the morning, I see. Or are you just abandoning him _again_," The teacher spewed the last statement with more resentment than David knew she was capable of.

"Because that would be the 'Emma' thing to do." Mary Margaret wasn't budging. She felt betrayed and hurt and she was going to make damn well sure that the woman she once considered family knew all of it.

At the mere mention of her son by Mary Margaret; Emma's head snapped up, infuriation written all over her face. But it was the "a" word that really caused Emma to snap.

"_Abandoning _him? He wasn't left on the side of a highway. He wasn't handed over to the system to bounce from foster family to foster family. He didn't sleep in a giant orphanage with 200 other kids. From the very second I found out I was pregnant, that kid having the best life possible was my first and _only _priority." Everything was coming out now. The anger, the pain, the regret…she wouldn't let her friend beat her down like this.

"I was eighteen. I had no money, no stable job, no stable home; I had only been out of the system for a matter of weeks. I didn't know how to be a parent because I never had an example to follow."

"That has no-" Mary Margaret tried to interject; only to have Emma shut her down.

"No, I'm not finished yet. You've had two chances to speak your mind and make your little judgments; now it's my turn." The savior took one step beyond the brunette and glanced off to the side where David was standing looking bewildered.

"When you decided that you were in love with a married man, I didn't judge you. I never yelled or turned my back on you. I tried my best to give you advice from personal experience and supported you when no one else would. Wait, that's not true. There was one other person on your side. Henry. The kid that you've watched grow up. The kid that was stuck in a mine shaft, his life in danger, and you were off with him," Emma accused, pointing to David.

Mary Margaret's "hard" expression had changed to one of shock as she was beginning to feel the red sting of shame tint her pale cheeks.

Emma was only halfway finished with her rant. The worst was yet to come.

"I never even said a word. I could have used the support of my best friend to tell me he'd be okay. I could have used some help with handling Regina and thinking of ideas to free him. Instead, I ended up going home to tell you how Henry was and we went on with our usual nighttime conversations. And how about that little prison incident that you mentioned last night? I doubt you were using that key to let yourself out to go home and bake cookies to bring back to the station. You were going to flee had it not been for the kidnapping. A jailbreak that I covered up _for you_," Emma's chest was heaving with pent up anger and tears pooled in her eyes as she thought about her next statement.

"You were going to leave to save yourself, and I don't recall you ever saying goodbye. I was leaving to save my son from a sociopath who is responsible for him flat lining on a hospital gurney because she tried to poison me!"

"Hold on, Henry's in the hospital?" Mary Margaret had been looking down at the ground until mention of Henry being hurt caused her to finally tear her eyes away from the fascinating pavement.

Emma scoffed, "Yeah, I rushed him to the ER last night after he took a bite out of an apple turnover that Regina made for me. Practically the whole town knows by now, except for you. Just like when the mine collapsed, you were off somewhere with David. Trying to take my kid out of town was wrong, and it certainly wasn't planned. Trying to make peace with Regina and bow out gracefully was wrong, but I thought it was best for Henry at the time. I'm sorry you're hurt, but I'm not going to apologize for trying to do what I think is best for my kid. I know now that I'm what's best for him; I know what I have to do. So if you don't mind, I have someone I need to speak with."

And with that, Emma took off down the block as fast as she could. She didn't want to waste anymore time that Henry didn't have.

**OUaT OUaT OUaT OUaT OUaT **

"Mary Margaret?" David tried, gently. She was just staring off in Emma's direction with a tear slipping down her flushed face.

It wasn't until David's hand grazed over her shoulder that she turned around and started walking.

"Where are you going?" The poor man tried to follow, but she kept picking up speed.

"She was right. Everything Emma said about being there for me and never judging me…she's right. About all of it. She was the one who got me through Kathryn's murder investigation. She was the one who stood by me when the rest of the town had labeled me a home wrecking tramp. I have to go!"

"Where?" But there was no use, the woman he loved kept walking and he had no choice but to follow.

**OUaT OUaT OUaT OUaT OUaT**

Emma rushed back into the hospital, the image of Augusts' wooden legs and arms burned into her brain.

"_The sleeping curse…Regina found a way to access the sleeping curse." August was breathing slowly and heavily, trying not to let his hardening chest crush his fragile lungs._

"_But he wasn't just sleeping; he had no heartbeat, August! They had to use a defibrillator just to keep him alive!" Emma had been pacing around the room, trying to avoid looking at the man that had Augusts' head yet a puppet's body. _

"_That's h-how it works, Emma. The sleeping curse makes the victim's body appear to be lifeless…while it acts as a prison where they're trapped in thoughts of regret." If the little kid hadn't been fighting for his life, August would have been grinning about the fact that Henry finally did it. He finally made his mother believe._

"_Well then how do I break it? Just tell me what to do. Tell me how to save him. I swear I'll do anything!" The savior had tears in her eyes that matched the desperation in her voice._

"_True love's kiss." That's all he could get out before succumbing to a coughing spell._

"_What? August, he's ten. He doesn't have a 'true love.'" At least she finally stopped pacing long enough to look at the man._

"_The most powerful love has the ability to break the strongest curse. Do you love Henry?"_

_She didn't even hesitate, "More than anything." Admitting it out loud caused a sob to escape her throat. She couldn't let her kid go without him knowing how she felt._

"_Then the true love in this case is the pure love between a mother and her child. N-now go s-save the kid before Regina purchases a burial plot." August managed to croak his last statement out with a smile before falling asleep._

_Emma stared at him for a moment before whispering a "thank you" and heading for the door._

"He stopped breathing, so Dr. Whale had to perform intubation. He doesn't have long, Miss Swan. I intend to be with him for his last heart beat. You've had plenty of time to say your goodbyes." Regina had approached her as she stepped off the elevator and onto Henry's floor.

Emma stared at the woman before her incredulously. "I was the first person to hear his heart beat, and I'll be the last person to hear his heart beat. I haven't given up yet, and I never will." The savior stepped around her nemesis and into her son's room to find a surprise awaited her.

**OUaT OUaT OUaT OUaT OUaT**

"Mary Margaret, wh-" The blonde was quickly interrupted, successfully this time, by her roommate.

"You were right. I judged you when I shouldn't have. I haven't been there when I should have. I'm sorry." The teacher looked from Emma to the boy who was more than just a student to her. "I'm sorry," she whispered to his lifeless form.

Upon Mary Margaret saying those words, Henry's heart monitor suddenly picked up no beat.

Emma moved quickly towards her son as Mary Margaret moved away to give her friend space. She ran out into the hallway to tell David to get a doctor but her attention was diverted by something strange lurking outside the window. She grabbed a panicked David's hand and pulled him towards the exit.

**OUaT OUaT OUaT OUaT OUaT**

"Henry, no. Don't give up on me yet. I believe in the curse. I believe in _you_!" Emma was sobbing as she bent down close to her son's head.

Just as Regina and Dr. Whale entered, Emma made her declaration.

"I love you, Henry. I believe!" She kissed his forehead as the tears fell from her face to his.

Still no beat. Nothing.

**OUaT OUaT OUaT OUaT OUaT**

"Miss Swan get away! Let the doctor do his job!" Regina went to force her enemy away from Henry when a gust of wind swept through the room. Dr. Whale and Regina backed out of the room, like they were seeing a ghost. Emma stood her ground next to her kid, keeping her head right above his, pleading with him to live.

Emma watched as her fallen tears absorbed into Henry's skin and _glowed._ The wind kept picking up and the savior smiled in astonishment.

His monitor finally made a different sound. The sound that it makes when it picks up a heart beat.

**OUaT OUaT OUaT OUaT OUaT**

David and Mary Margaret had run outside only to find the clouds swirling towards the town in anticipation. As they got closer, Mary Margaret grabbed David's arm as he looked into her eyes.

"Snow?" The fog that clouded his memory since his awakening seemed to lift.

"Charming!" All she needed to hear was him say her name with that look in his eyes. The same look that reflected in her own eyes.

They made it. Twenty-eight years and they made it.

**OUaT OUaT OUaT OUaT OUaT**

"Henry? Come on, kid. Say something…anything. Operation Cobra, the weather, yo-yos, whatever! Please…" Emma had kept her eyes on him the entire time, not missing one beat of his heart. Not missing a second of his chest rising and falling with the breath of life.

Henry started coughing and gasping for air as his eyes shot open for the first time in over 14 hours.

Emma grabbed his hand and silently thanked whomever was responsible for letting her son live.

"Emma?" He couldn't speak above a whisper.

"Yeah kid, it's me." She was grinning like a fool as the happy tears kept flowing and she poured him a cup of water.

He gratefully smiled behind the cup as she held it to his little lips.

"Thanks." He managed to get out when he swallowed the last of the water.

"Anytime, kid. I'd do anything for you." She got her son back and she wasn't going to waste any time telling him what he meant to her.

"Really?"

"Henry, really. I believe in you. I love you. I'm not leaving you…ever."

"Pinky promise?" He kept his arm on the bed, but separated his pinky from the rest of his hand.

Emma took her pinky and locked it with his and didn't let go. "Pinky promise. Geez you've made me soft." She laughed when she saw his smile brighten.

They made it. Ten-years and they made it.

The End

**It was supposed to end after Emma seeing Mary Margaret with Henry at the hospital, but I just couldn't help myself. I had to fit in some Henry/Emma time.**

**I've had this idea nagging at the back of my brain since Sunday night's episode. This is the worst possible time for me to start a story, so this will just be a one-shot.**

**Thank you for reading! Please feel free to subscribe, favorite, and especially review. Love those reviews! **


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